Helm an' sails: As for the rain
by Blackheart Dracon
Summary: A missing scene story about Hector and Elisabeth on their way to Singapore.


Title: Helm an' sails: as for the Rain…

Author: Blackheart Dracon

Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean

Characters: Hector Barbossa, Elisabeth Swan. Then Will and others.

Rating: T

Genre: Hurt & Comfort, Action

Disclaimer: All for Disney

Status: Completed

A/N: Well, I plan it as a collection of one-shot stories related to Hector and whoever surrounds him. The cycle itself is called "Helm an' sails" merely. I build it on my opinion on Hector using all I could get out of the films: all his half-smiles, his glances, sneers, face expressions, words said of course – being close to him, I know I be tellin' ye mostly the truth, mates=)

As for this very first story. When the third film appeared, it was obvious that the relationship between Jack's guys (including Gibbs and Liz) and Barbossa changed. Well, if Gibbs, Cotton, Marti and the others could have felt in Hector a strong leader and captain, then what was the reason for Elisabeth to change her attitude towards him? So this is a try to guess what happened between them. Nope, no barbossabet. Just a talk. Just both of them remembering the past and their actions. This story takes place after Dead Man's Chest on the "saving crew's" trip to Singapore. I thought I owed Hector a story for he's my favorite hero.

Well, and I don't know where they got their ship but they got it.

Contains two parts – one is a night-talk, the other is a sword training, yet it is a single story.

Hope you enjoy this. Sorry for the punctuation mistakes and grammar – I'm not English/American. Please tell me, when you find some. Thanks!

_Part One: A Rainy Night_

It was night and it was raining outside. Elisabeth lied in her hammock, listening to the rain hitting the deck of the brig on her sail to Singapore. Half a year span away from the moment she did a thing she could have never forgiven herself for. She has killed her friend. She has left Jack to die. And the worst was that he didn't blame her for that. "Pirate" that was all he said then, looking into her eyes. He wasn't hating her. Why wasn't he hating her?

Very often Elisabeth wanted to tell Will about what she had done, but every time she stopped herself from that. "He won't understand" she kept telling herself, "He would never have done anything like that. He won't trust me anymore. What if he thinks that I will be able to leave _him_ to die for my own sake?"

But sometimes the burden would get unbearable. One of those times was now. Elisabeth understood that she won't be able to rest, so she sat up and listened. According to the snore, everybody was asleep. She quietly got out of her hammock and crept up the stairs leading to the deck.

The rain was pouring down in a curtain. Elisabeth shuddered under the cold streams of water, but didn't go back. The waves constantly hit the boards of their ship and rolled away with a roar. Elisabeth listened to them for a moment, and then walked on. In the dimness of the torches she could see only blurred shapes of what surrounded her, and she nearly stumbled over one of the opened barrels already almost filled up with the rain water. The look-outs were nowhere to be seen. Elisabeth blinked, making the water drip down from her lashes. Though rain was cold, it was refreshing, and it took away the tidiness from her body. But it couldn't take away the tidiness from her soul.

Unconsciously, Elisabeth walked up another block of stairs leading to the quarterdeck. She stood there for a second, looking at the black sea around the ship. Unshed tears were felling her up.

Suddenly, the door behind her flew open.

"What the 'ell 're ye doin' 'ere? Ye should be down on yer post!" Barbossa's grumpy voice sounded from behind her.

Elisabeth turned when he spoke. The captain's harsh words added to her mood and she couldn't hold herself longer. She wept. The despair and loneliness of half a year time flowed out of her, making her shudder in tears.

"Miss Swan?" Barbossa sounded confused.

Elisabeth was weeping with no answer.

"Oh, stop it, lass," the captain's voice softened. His steps were barely heard in the pouring rain as he went out of his cabin and came up to Elisabeth "It didn't mean to hurt ye".

She continued crying.

"Why in all th' blazes 're ye standing 'ere in th' rain? Ye come in and calm down right now," Barbossa took Elisabeth gently by the arm and led her in. She didn't resist because she was in too much pain to do it. Barbossa slammed the door shut and pointed to a chair near the only table in the cabin.

"Take a seat"

Elisabeth dropped down, ashamed of her weakness, but still unable to stop herself from crying. She quietened a bit only when a goblet was put down on the table.

"Ye need to drink th' rum, lass, if ye want not to drop ill. It be not poisoned, nothin' to be afraid of" Barbossa said.

Elisabeth was so surprised not hearing the common mockery in his voice that she stopped weeping and looked up at him. He certainly was sleeping before she came up to the quarterdeck, because he was having only his trousers and jackboots on. Yet he had his usual green bandana on as well, and his loose hair was even in a more mess than usually. Elisabeth glanced in respectful wonder at the many battle-scars on his chest and stomach, until her gaze unwillingly stopped on one of them, right above his heart. Barbossa's gaze followed hers, and then the captain smirked. Elisabeth looked swiftly away, ashamed of staring at him.

"Ye see resurrection didn't get me whole again" Barbossa said in irony, but then got serious again, "Ye drink th' rum."

He turned away and went towards his bed. Elisabeth felt a cold chill when she saw white, long lash-scars and then two scars that were exactly at the same places on his back as were their twins on his chest.

Barbossa fetched his shirt and while putting it on walked up to a cupboard and took out another goblet.

Elisabeth then thought that she should still drink her rum. She suddenly remembered herself drinking it with Jack on that god-for-saken island and couldn't hold back the tears again.

"What happened, miss Swan?" Barbossa asked quietly, putting something warm round her shoulders, "Ye could not be cryin' because of me words again, so what be it?

"I… I…" Elisabeth choked on her words. With all her will she made herself stop weeping, looked Barbossa in the eye and then was shocked by realization that the warmth around her was the captain's coat.

"Thank you" she whispered, wrapping herself up but still shivering from the cold.

"'d like me hat?" Barbossa sneered, "Don't 've lice, nothin' to worry 'bout. That's what I keep th' monkey for"

Elisabeth faintly smiled.

"So" the captain continued, taking his seat opposite her and pouring some rum into his own goblet, "What 'appened?"

Elisabeth dropped her gaze to her portion of rum. Then she took her goblet and drank the alcohol in one swing, rum sending fire down her throat.

"'o taught ye drinkin' rum like that?" Barbossa raised his brows in interest, obviously astonished.

"I left Jack to die" Elisabeth suddenly said. She seemed very calm, but inside she was horrified of what she has just done. Has she gone mad? She tolled her secret to whom? To Barbossa who she didn't truly know. To Barbossa who was her enemy in the past. To a man who mutinied Jack and left him and her to die on an island. To a man who would have killed Will, if hadn't been stopped. What if he blackjacked her now with the truth she told him? What if…

"I know" was a simple answer.

"You… You know?" she whispered in disbelief.

"I do" he repeated.

"But how?" Elisabeth asked, still refusing to admit the spoken words.

"Tia Dalma"

"She knows too?" Elisabeth felt even more horrified. How could that be possible? How did they get the truth? Who can know except Tia Dalma and Barbossa? Can the crew know? Can Will… No, no, he can't. They all can't. She would have understood that.

"But how?" Elisabeth timidly glanced Barbossa in the eye, afraid to find there anger and blame. But, impossible, she, all of a sudden, found there sorrow and understanding.

"Tia Dalma sees many thin's, Miss Swan" Barbossa replied, "And she shares some with me"

"You're not angry?" Elisabeth whispered, barely having the courage to continue looking into his eyes.

"Angry 'bout what?" Barbossa shrugged, "'bout leavin' to die th' one who killed me?"

"I'm so sorry for what I have done…" Elisabeth buried her face in her hands, "I don't know what to do…"

She looked at Barbossa again. He smiled, obviously trying to encourage her.

Elisabeth wasn't understanding anything. Where was the usual captain's sarcasm on everything, his irony, where was his coldness and apartness from everyone? Sitting opposite her was a man whom she never knew and has seen now for the first time.

"We'll save 'im. Ye'll 'ave yer conscience back to 'er normal state very soon" Barbossa said, pouring himself another portion of rum, "'D like more?"

"Yes" and as the captain poured the rum into her goblet, she decided to ask the question she had wanted to know the answer for since the moment she had left Jack to die.

"Why didn't he blame me?"

Barbossa put the bottle back on the table. He chewed on his lip and shrugged once more.

"Because 'e'd 've done th' same to ye?"

"No, he would not" but deep inside Elisabeth knew it was the truth. The truth she had always known but had always refused to accept.

"Aye, 'e would. 'e 'as always saved 'is pelt by th' price of th' others'" Barbossa made a big gulp and continued, "'e'd done it twice with yer William. Once 'e'd've changed 'is life for th' Black Pearl, th' second – 'e gave 'im to Davy Jones instead of 'imself. And a number of sailors'd 've followed Turner's fate. 'e'd done 'is with me. For two times, I think. 'owever, I gave 'im no chance of doing it for th' third time. But 'e be a cunnin' fox, proved even more than I be."

"You mean on Isla-de-Muerta?" Elisabeth has truly calmed down now and got very interested in what Barbossa was saying. She was eager to know what the captain thought about the small bit of the past when they met and had been enemies.

"Aye" was Barbossa's short answer.

"That…" Elisabeth felt herself blush, but continued speaking; hoping that in the dim light of the candles her face is not seen clear, "That scar… is it from Jack's bullet?"

"Which of 'em?" taunted Barbossa, making her blush even more so she fell silent for a moment, readying an answer.

"Aye, it be it" the captain got sorry for her and ended the confusion.

Elisabeth was still silent. She remembered the moment when Jack and Will lifted the curse, her relief that it was all over, that Will was safe. And her sorrow for Barbossa when she saw blood sipping through his shirt. She remembered his last words filled with joy turning into grief as he realized he was dying. She remembered the apple he never got to taste again, falling from his hand.

"I'm sorry for your death" she said quietly.

"Why be that?" Barbossa asked in a surprised tone.

"You never did wrong to me"

"Well, I scared the 'ell out of ye for twice or thrice. And I acted as I'd cut Turner's throat open"

"Acted – that's the word" Elisabeth narrowed her eyes cunningly.

"I needed Jack to tell me of 'is intentions. But anyhow, I marooned both of ye and left ye to die"

"Why wait? Why not kill us on board?" Elisabeth raised her brow sure that she caught him.

Barbossa thought for a brief second.

"We could definitely feel no pleasure from that" he managed to think an answer.

"Oh, I see" Elisabeth smiled slyly "Then why marooning us on the same island, knowing Jack had already gotten away from there once?

"Why not?"

"You couldn't have not understood we could have done the same again?

"Not that fast as ye managed to"

"_He surrendered!"_ Elisabeth thought in triumph.

"So you knew?" she asked.

"About th' contrabandists' hiding place? Sure I did" Barbossa smirked and added, "Jack always thinks 'e be th' only one to know things around"

Elisabeth took a sip of her rum.

"I heard from Will that you didn't know the route to Isla-de-Muerta when Jack did"

Barbossa shook his head.

"He didn't know either. Jack got an old Spanish map from one of the ships we plundered. I asked 'im to show it…"

"And then you decided you didn't need him any longer…" interrupted Elisabeth.

"That's what we decided together with the crew" cut down the captain.

"Why?"

"'e ran away from almost each skirmish during th' three years I 'ad been sailing with 'im, and 'e thought only about 'imself"

"Isn't it what every pirate does? Thinks only about himself?" Elisabeth questioned him.

"Every pirate but not every captain" Barbossa sounded serious opposite Elisabeth's voice.

Silence fell in the cabin.

"So… you did nothing unfair to Jack after all, then" Elisabeth said at last.

"I'd 've killed 'im if 'e 'adn't 'ad the wit to steal one of those bloody medallions" Barbossa ended his rum in another gulp, "And I killed the father of yer Turner, Miss Swan. I be not a kind innocent creature, there be no reason to make me that."

"Yet Will never told me why you had done this" Elisabeth frowned.

"Bill sailed to Isla-de-Muerta after th' mutiny, got 'is gold and got 'is curse, then after revealing th' curse was no ghost tale, 'e sent one of th' coins to 'is child from Tortuga, saying 'e 'ad always been for Jack and th' curse be what we earned. I got furious and sent 'im to blazes with a canon-ball around 'is leg" Barbossa's usual sneer appeared, when he said the following words, "I guess 'e wasn't eager to cut 'is leg off so that's how 'e ended"

"But he wasn't able to die down there for ten years" said Elisabeth, horrified with the sudden thought.

"I didn't know it then, as I didn't know anythin' else about the curse except that we should gain the coins together and bring 'em back – that was all that Tia Dalma told us for that moment. But if Bill 'adn't got found by Jones 'e'd 've certainly been dead now. Of course if 'e 'adn't thought up an idea of 'ow to get rid of the canon-ball in a ten-year time or simply 'adn't taken a walk to the shore with it. He could've managed that in ten years"

"So he could have been alive?" Elisabeth was surprised because she had never thought of that before.

"He certainly could if ha hadn't acted as a damned fool as a weaky and as a coward" Barbossa answered in a solid tone.

Silence fell once more. Then Barbossa got up, walked to the cupboard and got something out. Elisabeth saw what it was. A green apple.

"Apple?" Barbossa smiled innocently, turning back to her.

"Poisoned?" Elisabeth grinned back.

"No sense in killin' ye, miss Swan. Not now, nor after. Apple?"

"Thank you"

Barbossa got out another one, sat back to the table and placed an apple in front of Elisabeth. She took it and bit hard into it's fresh flesh.

"Where do you get them?" She asked chewing hard.

"In ports, o' course" answered Barbossa biting into his.

"Tasty"

"Wouldn't eat 'em, if they were not"

They sat in silence one more.

"What about the red dress?" Elisabeth questioned, breaking the silence.

"What about the red dress?" Barbossa re-asked, surely seeing what she was talking about, but refusing to show it.

"What happened to it's previous owner?"

"Never seen 'er, lass. We got th' chest from a French galleon" He shrugged, but then nodded in understanding, "We didn't kill 'er, nor rape 'er an' throw 'er o'erboard, Miss Swan"

"You menaced you'd make me dine with the crew…" Elisabeth started.

"Naked, aye, I remember quite well" Barbossa laughed.

"What for? To make me dine with you?"

"Sure. So that ye'd listen to me story"

"That's it" nodded Elisabeth "Because I thought it was not that any of you could…" She stopped.

"Go on" encouraged Barbossa.

"Not that any of you could… rape me"

"Well, I certainly could now" Barbossa stood up and walked to her seeming interested, but not menacing "What would ye do? Scream an' call for Mr. Turner?"

"I'd run you through" Elisabeth's sword flashed before Barbossa's eyes and came to rest it's tip on his chest.

"Ye know 'ow to 'andle a sword, lass?" without any movement asked the captain, "I've thought ye just wore it for a better look"

"Will taught me fighting"

"'e did, eh?" Barbossa was silent for a while, frowning at his thoughts, "That we should see. In th' morning. Agreed?"

"You want me to fight you tomorrow?" Elisabeth stared at him in surprise.

"Nay, not me. Gibbs, Ragetti, Pintel, Cotton, our hired crew – anyone you like. Not Will, though. He'll be easy on you"

"Fine" fire of confidence blazed in Elisabeth's eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt that Barbossa's opinion on her fighting skills would be valuable to her. Perhaps, because he was the greatest swords-man she had ever seen in a battle.

"Still want to run me through, Miss Swan?" Barbossa's voice tore her from the thoughts. She glanced back at him. The captain was eyeing the tip of her sword.

"Almost forgotten th' feeling in a ten-year time" he smiled in what seemed bitter irony.

"You used to get run through?" Elisabeth asked firstly in disbelief, but then mentioned to herself those double-scars of his that she had seen.

"Aye, in a melee on shore" nodded Barbossa, "We're goin' to get a key to an armory from th' hands of th' English. Jack 'ad a plan which I remember not now. I remember just things messin' up and us 'aving to fight off th' bloody red-coats. I fought back to back with Jack – it was me first year with 'im. Then 'e still seemed a good man to be"

"Jack is a good man…" Elisabeth protested, but Barbossa cut her off.

"Jack be arrogant an' self-thinkin'. We killed many foes, lass. I just finished one more when I got a cutlass through me from the back.

"But Jack?.." started Elisabeth, and once again was interrupted.

"Jack saw th' key in somebody's 'ands an' ran off to get it without bothering to tell me" Barbossa sneered ruefully, "That was the first time I thought I contacted with a wrong man"

"What did he say to you afterwards?"

"'e said 'e was sorry, o'course. I don't believe in it much though. 'e got 'is key"

"And you?"

"And I got three months in bed and a double-scar remindin' me never to trust me life to Jack again" shrugged Barbossa as if the things he was talking about were not important to him.

"But that be long ago. Almost forgotten 'ow one feels being menaced with a sword"

"Should I hold it a bit longer to refresh the memory?" Elisabeth smirked.

"Only if it pleases ye"

Elisabeth blushed.

"Stop taunting me all the time"

"Or what? Tell me, I be eager to know"

"I have my sword on you, don't you forget, captain Barbossa" she said in a tampered menacing voice.

"So?"

"I have the power to kill you"

"Nay, _this_ memory I don't want to refresh" Barbossa' smile faded.

Elisabeth put her sword into its scabbard in a second, understanding that she shouldn't have said that.

"It's fine" Barbossa said, stepping backwards and taking his seat again "Ye did nothing wrong"

Elisabeth stirred in unease to ask the question she wanted to, but then overcame herself and inquired in a barely heard voice.

"Did all your crew die then, except for Pintel and Ragetti?"

"'ey'd been lucky to escape" Barbossa said, and with a pause continued grimly, "Damn it, lass, I wish 'ey were 'ere with me. Cobb an' Jacoby an' Twigg an' Andreas an' our Bo'sun, who never had a name, an' Koehler… Especially Koehler. 'e was a worthy lad"

"So why are you on sail to save Jack after all?" Elisabeth asked.

"I owe me life to Tia Dalma. She wants to save 'im, cause she needs 'im" Barbossa answered gloomily.

"Why does she need him?"

"That be a long story, Miss Swan, and the night is already short. Ye should take some rest" was the reply.

"I want to hear it, captain, please" Elisabeth was really interested and she didn't want to leave, understanding that this might be the only time when she could get to know the real Barbossa, not the mask he hid his true feelings behind.

"Well, if ye be determined to 'ear it…"

And so Elisabeth sat there, listening in growing wonder to the tale of the sea goddess Calypso, of captain Sao-Feng's Charts, of the Brethren Court and the Nine Pieces of Eight, about Davy Jones's story of love and suffer.

Dawn has already set outside the cabin's windows when Barbossa fell silent.

"So that's it" said Elisabeth slightly lost, "But how for haven's sake are we going to get those Charts?"

"Oh, I 'ave a plan for this" smirked the captain "But I can not tell ye till I tell the crew the story ye just heard"

"You're going to tell them?"

"Why should I not?" Barbossa scowled, "They have the right to know. They be part of the operation. I be not Jack to keep secrets"

Elisabeth opened her mouth to say something in protect for Jack, but then suddenly somebody knocked on the door.

"Captain Barbossa?" Will's voice called from the outside.

Elisabeth was thrown into fever. She glanced helplessly at Barbossa, silently begging not to tell Will she was here. Barbossa nodded.

"What do ye want, lad?" he said loudly.

"Do you happen to know where Elisabeth is?"

Elisabeth wanted to fall through the deck into the sea. What would Will think if he finds her here? She blushed from a foul thought that occurred to her.

At the moment Barbossa stood up and while walking to the door pointed his finger to the empty space between the cupboard and the wall which could not be seen from the entrance. Elisabeth jumped up and quickly hid behind it. Barbossa opened the door.

"Good morning, captain" Will's voice sounded.

"Morning, mister Turner. Nay, I'm not supposed to know where ye lost your precious lass"

Elisabeth smiled to herself, noticing Barbossa's usual mockery intonation back.

"I don't know if she slept at all, because a hammock is not a bed and…" Will continued.

"What do ye want from me, boy?" Barbossa grumbled, "To go runnin' all o'er th' ship like a madman searchin' for 'er? Ye better go down to the 'old and search for 'er there yerself. Luck"

With these words Barbossa closed the door right in front of Will's nose. Few seconds passed and his steps sounded away.

Elisabeth emerged from her shelter.

"Thank you" she said still in fear that Will will come back in any moment.

"Welcome" Barbossa replied, "Ye better go now. Unnoticed. But ye ought to get a bit wet so that Will'd believe ye came down right from the top of the mast itself"

"Right" Elisabeth nodded.

She took off Barbossa's coat and gently held it to him.

"Thanks for getting me warm"

Barbossa took the coat from her without a reply. Elisabeth walked up to the door.

"Stop there, Miss Swan, if ye want not to get into th' eyes of th' look-outs on yer emerge from me cabin" Barbossa warned, smiling slyly.

Elisabeth stopped. Barbossa came up to her, opened the door and shouted out:

"Hey, ye, bloomin' cockroaches! Aye, exactly ye! Mister Turner'd lost 'is girl. Go an' help 'im find 'er!"

Barbossa blocked Elisabeth's way with his arm as she tried to walk out. He held it up for a few moments then turned to her.

"They're gone. Be quick. Cotton be at the helm, but 'is parrot be not there. And 'e be busy with the course, so 'e might not see ye"

Elisabeth slipped past him through the doorway, but suddenly turned and all of a sudden she asked:

"Captain Barbossa, what was it that you saw, when you were dead?"

Barbossa sighed then answered quietly:

"I do not remember well. The only I know be that I felt nothin' physically. For once again. Go. They'll be up soon. Don't forget about th' fencin' an' get some sleep"

The door shut closed in front of her.

_Part Two: Ye be not Jack_

"So, Miss Swan, show us yer fencinэ abilities, then"

Elisabeth was standing on deck with that part of the crew, which was not busy. The sun was riding towards the horizon, giving its last beams of light to the world.

After a brief talk with Will about where she had been, Elisabeth went to sleep. She slept peacefully as she has not since they set out from Tia Dalma's house to rescue Jack. When she awoke, it was already noon. Elisabeth busied herself through the remnants of the day with helping Will, Gibbs and Marti – they were searching for rotten hawsers and then replacing them with new ones. The ship they sailed on was old, and Barbossa knew that there was plenty of replacement to do before they sailed out, but he never wanted to lose the time, so every repair was done already at sea.

The work was hard and by the time they finished, Elisabeth got tired. Yet she never forgot about Barbossa's promise to examine her fighting skills.

He had already been on deck when she arose, keeping the course himself while Cotton was taking his sleep, and was still at the helm when Elisabeth sat down on a barrel next to Will for a rest.

When Cotton emerged into the fresh air again, Barbossa called him up. Elisabeth saw him say something to him. Cotton nodded and took the helm. Barbossa came down from the quarterdeck and caught Gibbs by the sleeve. Gibbs listened and disappeared down the stairs, leading to the orlop deck.

"Hey there! All 'o be naught busy an' wanna get some shake-up!" called Barbossa and his glance fell, only by chance of course, on Elisabeth.

"Miss Swan. I be right to think that ye know 'ow to 'andle that shiny thin' 'anging from ye baldric?"

"You are right" she answered unhesitatingly.

"I'll go with you" Will said.

"No need to" she smiled warmly at him, "You are a good teacher, you don't have to worry for me"

"If he harms you…" Will began, looking at Barbossa and gripping the handle of his sword.

"He'll not harm me. We're on one side now. Take you rest, you must be terribly tired" Elisabeth smiled at him once more, then made her way to Barbossa and a group of pirates that started forming around him. Gibbs, Pintel and Ragetti were there. Also, there were some of the pirates Barbossa hired at Tortuga to sail with him to Singapore.

Elisabeth spotted Tia Dalma not far from the future battleground. She was standing in the shade of the sails, looking solemnly at the gathering crowd. Elisabeth remembered that Tia Dalma knew of what she'd done to Jack. Because she was a sea-goddess in human form. Davy Jones's love. Elisabeth couldn't suppress a sudden chill, when she realized how much was hidden behind the solemn form of a mere woman.

"We go one against another, others watch. No shouts, no cheerin'. No blood. The one 'o does 'arm to another I'll shoot from this very pistol" Barbossa was saying meanwhile. He took out his Spanish pistol and showed everybody that it was loaded "I name th' partners. First pair – Bongel an' Johns. Ye fight till I command ye to stop or till one of ye looses 'is weapon. Understand?"

"Aye, captain!" answered the group.

"Ye begin, 'en" commanded Barbossa.

Elisabeth leaned on the gunwale and watched as the hired pirates began their fight. Will taught her to notice the weak and strong points in the opponent, so she busied herself with trying to find each of the combatants good and bad sides.

As if by chance once again, Barbossa appeared by her side. He leaned on the gunwale next to her and, pretending to eye the sparring, he asked his lips barely moving:

"Ye ready, Miss Swan? Got yer rest?"

"Aye, thank you captain" Elisabeth answered not looking away from the duel.

"Fine 'en. Ye be next"

"Aye, captain" Elisabeth answered once more.

"Now tell me, lass, what can ye see - 'o be goin' to win? What do ye think?"

"Well, Bongel is stronger but shorter, while Johns is nimbler and always covers himself after he attacks. And Bongel's limping a bit. I suppose Johns to be the winner" Elisabeth narrowed her eyes, trying to see anything she could have missed.

"Impressing" Barbossa said smiling, "All ye said be true, but it can be seen that Johns's right elbow be aching from th' work with th' sails – I can see it from th' way 'e 'olds 'is sword – 'e takes all the weight of it on 'is wrist so that 'is hand stays a bit down. So if they do not finish now, I suppose Bongel'll get the victory by striking just a fine 'ard blow"

"Oh" said Elisabeth. She hadn't seen it and would have never seen if Barbossa didn't mention it to her now.

"Ye should learn to see smaller details – ones that can not be done on purpose to trap ye. I can pretend to be limping good enough for ye to believe me and think ye be more strong and lose yer watchfulness. And the main part of yer body in fencing be yer hands not legs. O'course everything works in a fight, yet the hands be of first importance. I think I could well combat 'avin' one leg missin' for example, yet I could do that twice worse if I 'ad one arm missin'. Especially, the fightin' arm.

"I understand, captain" pronounced Elisabeth simultaneously with the moment Bongel hit Johns's sword out of his hand just as Barbossa had predicted.

"Well done, lads, ye go take some rest!" Barbossa shouted, "Johns, ye go an' take care of yer bloody aching elbow!"

Johns seemed surprised, but he said nothing and a moment later disappeared down the stairs leading to the orlop.

"Next pair" continued Barbossa, "be Miss Swan and Ragetti"

He turned to Elisabeth.

"Don't forget all that ye know while in battle. Keep yer mind calm and make it think. Ragetti be not that simple as ye may think. And 'e be left-'anded, don't ye forget"

"I've fought already, captain Barbossa" Elisabeth nodded, accepting his notes, then went to the sparring place, where Ragetti already stood, grinning widely.

"'ello, poppet" he said, "'ere we get the chance to fight at last"

"So, Miss Swan, show us yer fencing abilities, then"

Elisabeth smiled at Barbossa's words then pulled out her sword and cast a quick glance at Will. He was still sitting on one of the water-barrels that stood near the mainmast, frowning. She winked him and turned back to Ragetti.

"Ye may start" Barbossa called.

Elisabeth took a careful step towards her opponent. He stood still gripping at his sword. Elisabeth made a feint to his leg, and then quickly slashed her sword to his head. Ragetti wasn't caught by surprise. He ducked and aimed for her stomach. Elisabeth parried, hit his sword off and advanced.

Barbossa narrowed his eyes. "She may become a hell of a good fighter if she be trained properly" he murmured to himself, "She 'as a quick eye, a quite strong 'and and a good wit. Only if 'er will be strong enough to fight while already wasted, then… But that be still to be seen" Barbossa chuckled, watching Elisabeth fight with sparkles of amusement in his eyes.

Minutes passed by. Neither of the opponents was winning. Barbossa cast a glance at Will and saw him in pride for his trainee. Barbossa then smirked and called out:

"Pintel! Ye join in against Miss Swan!"

"Aye, captain!" said Pintel, unsheathing his sword.

"What?" Elisabeth couldn't hold the words back, "But it's unfair!"

"Tell this to Davy Jones's lads an' see what they tell ye!" replied Barbossa ironically.

With the corner of his eye the captain saw Will jumping off his barrel and heading towards him.

"Barbossa! Halt!" he cried.

The fighting stopped, opponents in surprise. Barbossa raised his brows.

"Problems Mr. Turner?" he mocked, "Per'aps ye come to tell me it be unfair for a lass to fight against two men, eh? We 'ave already agreed upon that with Miss Swan, didn't we, Missy?"

He bent his head a bit and turned his gaze on Elisabeth.

"It's fine, Will" Elisabeth's eyes flashed with anger, "I'm not a little girl to be protected anymore. I can take care of myself. I'm a pirate!"

Barbossa's grin at her words didn't emerge from William.

"If she gets hurt" he warned, "Be sure, I won't have mercy upon you"

Barbossa rolled his eyes theatrically.

"Calm down, Mr. Turner" he said lazily, "Ye be too noisy. Go on lads, Miss Swan"

At once the fight continued. Will remained near him, looking in worry at the opponents. Barbossa shook his head and sighed.

Elisabeth was getting exhausted. She couldn't understand what Barbossa wanted from her. She fought Ragetti and was not defeated. But neither had she won. Wasn't it obvious that she was going to fail now?

Still Elisabeth was determined not to give up. She parried and attacked, cut and thrust, but she got more and more tired.

With a strong strike Pintel bet off her sword and put the tip of his to her throat. Ragetti came up from the back. They stood still. Elisabeth couldn't see Will nor Barbossa because she was standing with her back to them. While there was a pause she tried to catch her breath.

"That's it, poppet" Ragetti giggled.

"You be surrounded" added Pintel, when his eyes suddenly widened at something happening behind Elisabeth.

She was about to turn around when she heard a clank of steel against steel, Ragetti's surprised shriek, and then felt somebody's back against hers.

"Ye 'ave some strength left, lass?" Barbossa voice asked from behind her.

"Sure, captain" smiled Elisabeth in astonishment and brought her sword to the guard position. She couldn't understand why she was so happy to find Barbossa at her help.

"All the others join in!" cried the captain, "'and don't ye forget, ye bloomen maggots – no blood to be shed!"

The last time Elisabeth had been so excited was, perhaps, the fight with the Kraken on board of the Black Pearl. She found out that she still had the power to battle. Elisabeth has never fought back to back with anybody and now she thought it to be uneasy always standing at the same spot but at the time she felt extremely safe with someone like Barbossa guarding her back.

The only thing Elisabeth kept in her mind except for parrying, swinging and thrusting were Barbossa's words about getting himself skewered because he trusted Jack his life in a fight alike. Of course, this was just a training for all of them, but stil…

Elisabeth fought off another of the hired pirates when she was grabbed by the right wrist by Ragetti. He pulled her to himself trying to tear her from Barbossa. Elisabeth was about to cry for help when the captain suddenly turned and slammed the guard of his sword into Ragetti's arm making him cry out and let Elisabeth go. Then Barbossa changed arms, and with his right hand now free, he grabbed Elisabeth himself.

"Slash!" he shouted as he swung her round, making them change places.

Elisabeth obeyed his order and to her big surprise Pintel's sword, which had the opportunity to be the first to meet Elisabeth's, flew out from the pirate's hand.

"Off ye go Pintel!" Hector cried over his shoulder, "Ye fight be finished"

"Captain Barbossa!" Elisabeth parried Bongel's thrust, "You told you would never trust your life to anybody again!"

"Ye be not Jack, lass" answered Barbossa and another sword was torn from its master.

"Well, then you…" began Elisabeth, but the breath was torn away from her when sharp pain slashed through her right shoulder. She automatically parried another swing and gasped in fear when she saw blood sipping through the fabric of her shirt.

Barbossa understood something was wrong.

"Stop 'ere, lads!" he cried.

The fight immediately stopped. Barbossa turned slowly to see Elisabeth holding her shoulder with her left hand. The captain's face darkened.

"Elisabeth!" cried Will as he saw what happened and rushed towards her. He embraced Elisabeth and, gently whispering something into her ear, made her sit down.

"Be still. We'll have you bandaged" he told her and raised his gaze at Barbossa, fury burning in them. Their eyes met.

"Who did 'is?" the captain inquired slowly, bringing out his pistol and turning with menace to the crew, "I warned ye twice. Now ye answer, ye filthy curs, who did this?"

Dead silence fell among the pirates who were whispering to each other a moment ago. Then Bongel took a quivering step forward.

"I did, captain"

"Oh, did ye, eh?" Barbossa aimed at his forehead, "Ye be dead then"

He wanted to pull down the trigger when Elisabeth suddenly jumped up and nearly hung to his arm.

"No, captain, please, it is my entire fault!" to Hector she seemed nearly in despair.

"Elisabeth?" Will himself was going to ask Barbossa to take pity on Bongel because the man had no intent to harm Elisabeth – what happened was an unhappy coincidence. But he didn't expect such a reaction from Elisabeth.

Barbossa halted and looked in the girl's eyes.

"Ye sit back 'ere and not protest against me promises"

"No, please, he's not guilty! Please, captain, please don't kill him!" Barbossa saw her tears ready to be shed.

"I don't want a man to die because of me" she whispered.

Barbossa brought down the pistol in a moment, understanding her unspoken words. _"I don't want another man to die because of me" _she willed to say.

"Ye go to me cabin" he told Elisabeth, and turned to Will "Ye too. Mr. Gibbs, ye stay as well. All th' othe's back to work!"

The crew was "back to work" as if a wind had blown them away.

Will wanted to have his arm around Elisabeth's waist to support her, but she to his surprise and hurt almost pushed his hand away.

"Stop it, Will, I'm not a little girl, I told you. And I'm not dying" she hissed.

"Mr. Gibbs! Ye go an' fetch a bottle o' whisky. Or rum. And ye bring it to me cabin" Barbossa told the man.

"Aye captain, in a moment!" Gibbs shook his head unhappily, glancing at Elisabeth's blood-soaked sleeve and slipped away.

Barbossa watched his back in grim silence, and then turned back to Will and Elisabeth.

"Ye come" he told them, "No time to be lost"

He span round and started walking to his cabin. The crew tried hard not to get into his way or even on his eyes.

Barbossa walked up to the quarterdeck, opened the door of his cabin and glanced over his shoulder before going in.

When Gibbs approached, Barbossa had already lit up the candles. Elisabeth sat herself in the same chair she'd been sitting the previous night, unsure of what is going to follow.

"Thank ya, Mr. Gibbs" Hector nodded, taking the bottle from the man, "Ye be free"

Gibbs vanished closing the door behind him.

"Take off yer shirt" Barbossa ordered certainly appealing to Elisabeth.

"What?" Will and Elisabeth spoke in choir. The last was looking at him in misunderstanding.

Hector cursed himself in his thoughts.

"Sometimes I forget ye be not a man" he sighed, "Fine 'en. Tear off yer sleeve, cut it, do anythin' to it in all the blazes, but get yer arm free"

Elisabeth looked at Will in hesitation.

"What be it, lass?" Barbossa raised his brows, "Ye seemed to trust me more then this in the past"

Elisabeth stirred in unease at his words.

"You better do as he commands" Will told her.

"And it be much better if it be a bit of quicker" Hector told her.

Elisabeth raised her arm, but at the same moment she winced from pain.

"Let me do it" Will whispered. He brought out his knife.

Barbossa thinned his eyes. He knew whose knife that used to be. The knife of the poor old bastard Bootstrap Bill.

Meanwhile Will cut gently through the blooded fabric. When Elisabeth's arm was free from the sleeve, Barbossa came nearer. He had the bottle Gibbs brought in his right hand and a piece of cloth in the left.

"Better sit on the table, Miss Swan" he said, "And turn yer arm to the candlelight"

Elisabeth obeyed his order in silence. Will turned his gaze from Elisabeth to Barbossa and back again.

Hector dropped some rum onto the cloth.

"This is goin' to 'urt" he warned her, "For we can not spare water to wash th' blood away, tis goin' to be rum. Makes the wound clean as well"

Elisabeth just nodded. Hector gently touched her arm with the cloth. She hissed when the alcohol made contact with the bleeding wound.

"Maybe I'll do it?" Will asked outrageously.

"Ye think ye can do better 'en a man 'o spent 'is life in sea?" Barbossa spat in mockery, "I beg ye not to even try"

Will has already opened his mouth to answer, when Elisabeth interrupted.

"Will, captain Barbossa is trying to help" she shrugged carelessly and once again gasped in pain.

William's face darkened. Anger mixed with grief was written upon it.

"Fine" he said, "Then I'll let you finish"

He turned and walked away from the cabin.

"Will!" Elisabeth called after him, but he didn't even turn.

"Bloody 'ell what a self-thinking lad" murmured Barbossa still busied with cleaning the wound.

"Stop it, captain Barbossa" Elisabeth said sternly.

Hector was not able to restrain himself from chuckling at these words. How she defended her love by the gods!

"'ave patience, Miss Swan, I be nearly over with this" he tolled Elisabeth, "The wound be not deep so no need to sew it. It may leave a scar, though"

"I don't care" said Elisabeth in indifference in her mind still hoping that Will will come back.

"Fine 'en" Barbossa replied dryly.

"What happens to be your first name captain?" Elisabeth suddenly asked.

"Hector it be the last time" he answered without showing any surprise "Why?"

"Nay, nothing" she replied smiling quietly to herself.

Barbossa ended the cleaning at last and tossed the cloth away. He reached than for the second piece and carefully, barely touching Elisabeth's arms with his fingers, he bandaged it with the fabric.

"Ye come up in th' evening an' show me yer arm" he ordered her.

"Aye captain" Elisabeth cast a glance at the door.

"He'll be alright" Barbossa told her, "He be just worried 'bout ye"

"I'm not a little girl anymore captain Barbossa, for how many times should I repeat it" Elisabeth sighed.

"Ye go an' talk with 'im right now" Hector nodded at the door, "Off ye go, an' take care of yer arm. I be not healin' it for a second time"

"Thank you captain" Elisabeth smiled and slipping past him she disappeared behind the door.

"Miss Swan!" he called her.

Elisabeth's head was back in the cabin after a second.

"Me apologizes to yeh"

"For what?" Elisabeth widened her eyes.

"I did not manage to keep yeh safe" it seemed he was mocking her, but with a glance into the captain's eyes Elisabeth understood that he wasn't.

"I was not stabbed in the back" she replied.

"Aye" chuckled Hector hiding his disbelief in that she forgave him "That be true"

"Ye fought bravely and skillfully today" he said.

"Thank's captain" Elisabeth looked really pleased.

"Ye 'appen to know 'ow to shoot?" Hector asked.

"Can't say I don't know how to do it, but not really" Elisabeth answered.

Hector smirked.

"Well… then that's the thing to catch up with"

**Thanks everybody for reading, hope you may leave a comment. And, dearly beloved, if you liked this you can tell which part of Hector's history you want to hear of next. Although, I won't be writing about what happened to him after the fourth movie, nor what did he do when he didn't know Jack. I'm working more with psychology based on the characters' actions in the film – POVs, missing scenes – all that stuff. Not just imagining things, but imagining what possibly could have happened to the character, so that he acts like this now.**


End file.
